How to Burglar Proof Your Home While on Vacation

Learning how to burglar proof your home should be part of your vacation planning. There is nothing worse than returning from vacation to find your home has been violated. Here are easy and inexpensive ways how to burglar proof your home while on vacation.

Picture this: You’ve got everything set to go for your vacation--your bags are packed, your flight has been booked, and reservations have been confirmed.

But have you done what is necessary to make your home safe from unwanted break-ins while you are away? Securing your home to prevent burglaries should also be part of your vacation planning.

Durable Doors: One of the best ways to prevent thieves from entering into your home is using durable doors and door locks. Install dead bolt locks in your home because they are not easy to manipulate by one who is outside and will require a hammer if the thief really wants to break into your home.

You’ve Got Mail: A huge pile of mail or packages on your front porch or doorstep is a green light to potential thieves. If you have a trusted neighbor or friend, ask them to pick up your mail, packages, and even your newspapers. Alternatively, you can put a stop to the delivery of your mail while you are away with the post office.

Create A Diversion: On that note, you can also ask your neighbor to water your plants while you’re away, feed your pet, and other small activities. You could also ask them to park their own car every once in a while in your driveway to give the impression to potential thieves that there is an activity in your house.

Bright Lights: Many crime experts advise that a house that is well lit is a good ways to burglar proof your home because it will be much less likely to be broken into. So before going on a vacation, have your house installed with motion-detector spot lights which are lights that have sensors. These are designed to automatically turns the light on when there is movement on a certain area in your home.

A good idea is to create the illusion of activity in your house by using timed switches on every floor of your house. These switches can be programmed to turn on your house lights at different times of the day on a any floor.

Bedroom lights can be turned on at a certain length of time during the evening to give the illusion that whoever is in the house is preparing to sleep.

Security Camera: Along with those lights, why not have security cameras installed in strategic locations in your home? Nothing would surprise a burglar more than having a light shone to his face but the security camera helps to identify the would-be criminal later on. There are some inexpensive surveillance cameras that will even transmit information to your personal lap top computer.

Timed Appliances: Now if you can have your lights automatically turned on, you can also have timers installed in your home that will automatically turn on any of your appliances on certain times of the day usually during the late morning to late afternoon thus giving the impression that the house is occupied.

Alarm Systems: Many homeowners resist installing alarm systems in their homes thinking that this is a costly endeavor. The thing is that the cost of using alarm systems to ward off thieves has come down in recent years due to the ease of installation and the fact that there is a sizable number of companies competing in this market.

However if you’re not into complicated alarm systems, you can opt to burglar proof your home with a simple yet effective alternative, the barking dog alarms which are electronic devices that sound off dog barks when it’s sensors detect movement outside your home.